you should really read it. i love it. from the left i'm van jones. >> from the right i'm newt gingrich. join us tomorrow for another edition of "crossfire." cnn's coverage of election night continues now with piers morgan live in new york. piers morgan live midnight on the east coast. i welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the morning after election night. in virginia a governor's race closer than anybody expected thanks to bill and hillary clinton's ally terry mcauliffe squeaking by tea party favorite ken cucinnelli. >> virginia, thank you for the honor of electing me to serve as the 72nd governor of the commonwealth of virginia. >> meanwhile in new jersey, chris christie wins re-election

and takes his victory lap while keeping an eye on his future. >> our first job is to get the job done. and as long as i'm governor, that job will always always be finished. [ cheers and applause ] >> we begin now with wolf blitzed in washington with tonight's up to the minute results. wolf, bring us up to speed with what happened tonight. >> all right, piers. thank you. the governor's race in virginia as you say certainly more suspenseful than expected. but in the end the former democratic party chairman, terry

mcauliffe, pulled it out defeating republican ken cucinnelli who was embraced by the tea party movement. 48% for mcauliffe, 45% for cucinnelli. 7% for the libertarian candidate robert sarvis. in the end mcauliffe will be the next governor of virginia. in new jersey a big re-election win for the republican incumbent governor chris christie. his acceptance speech tonight possibly a warmup for a 2016 presidential bid. in the end a crushing win over barbara buono. 60% for chris christie, 38% for her. an impressive win for chris christie. in new york city, bill deblasio will become the first democratic mayor, get this, in two decades, taking over for the republican turned independent michael bloomberg. bill deblasio will be the next mayor of new york. so lots of excitement. lots of political activity and lots to think about in the days, weeks and months ahead. piers? >> wolf, this defeat of the tea party man, ken cucinnelli, how significant is that in terms of the tea party's prospects going forward to 2014 and then 2016? >> i can't tell you how many establishment republicans have said to me in recent weeks they thought terry mcauliffe was a flawed democratic candidate for

governor of virginia, but they knew this tea party-backed ken cucinnelli, he had some problems in virginia as well. if they would have gone with a more establishment, more moderate republican, a lot of republicans said to me, terry mcauliffe probably would have been in up deeper trouble especially because the affordable care act obama care as it's called was becoming increasingly unpopular in the final weeks of this campaign in virginia. but in the end, a win is a win as you know. and terry mcauliffe will be the governor. >> in terms of chris christie, wolf, obviously a big big win. but significantly i think for his prospects going forward as a potential presidential candidate. right across the board in almost all the key demographic, african-americans, latinos, women. what does that say about his chances at a general election? and will it help him get to a place where he can be a republican nominee? >> you know, he certainly would be a formidable challenger. let's say hillary clinton got the democratic nomination. chris christie has the incumbent

governor of new jersey would certainly be formidable. his big problem, though, is going to win that republican nomination. he's got to win in conservative states like iowa or south carolina. that's not going to be easy for chris christie. but still a lot of time between now and then. >> finally, wolf, new york city the first democratic mayor in two decades. bill deblasio. what do you make of that? >> he's a very, very liberal guy. a lot more liberal than a lot of democrats probably thought would be winnable, if you will, because there hasn't been a democratic mayor in such a long time. but he won. he won impressively. he's going to be the mayor. he's got a liberal agenda. very progressive. makes no bones about it. he's going to try to do what he wants to raise taxes on very wealthy people. he's got a lot of other so-called progressive ideas. it's going to be a shift from michael bloomberg and certainly from rudy giuliani, the former republican mayor of new york. >> wolf, fantastic job as always tonight orchestrating events for us. thank you very much indeed.

governor's race in virginia was a lot closer than just about anybody expected, but in the end former dnc chairman terry mcauliffe eeked out the victory. joining me is cnn's chief congressional correspondent dana bash. dana, more exciting tonight than we expected. the significance of ken cucinnelli losing in the way that he did. is it bad that he lost or is it encouraging for the tea party that it was quite close? >> reporter: probably all of the above. if you're a member of the tea party or if you are a staunch conservative who believes in the ideals that he was running on, not just in the general election but when he won the primary much to the chagrin as wolf was just alluding to of many republicans in this commonwealth of virginia and broadly across the country because they understand what a bellwether virginia tends to be with regard to the national election. but piers, i have to tell you,

coming into this ballroom tonight there were so many mcauliffe supporters, staffer, aides, who were remarkably optimistic and comfortable and confident in a way that even those who in the years i've been covering politics, maybe if they feel they at least pretend that they're a little bit nervous. but as the night went on they certainly got more nervous. because it was closer than we thought. and i actually caught up with terry mcauliffe himself when he was glad handing, shaking hands with supporters here and asked him about that. listen to what happened. >> how do you feel? >> great. great night. it was a great campaign. >> was it a little bit too close for comfort for you? >> i always said it was going to be close. i always said it was going to be a couple of points. the day i got, in it's been a 35-plus-year curse of whoever wins the white house, the other party wins the governor's mansion. we always knew it was going to be tough. great field team, great volunteers, spectacular. it's a great win. we're happy. now we've got a lot of work to do. >> reporter: piers, you heard

him talking about the curse here in virginia. it is true that it has been almost half a century since there has been a democrat in the white house and a democrat won the governor's mansion here in virginia. and that does certainly tell you something about the way virginia has been going over the past two presidential cycles, of course, barack obama had a surprising win in 2008 and then did it again in 2012. so virginia which had been pretty much reliably red on a national scale has been turning. the fact that terry mcauliffe has now won, it puts the commonwealth of virginia solidly in the tossup column and makes it a very important state for 2016. very interesting his very close personal friend who campaigned for him, raised money for him, hillary clinton, may be running for president herself. so she's going to have, if she does, a very close ally here for primaries and also for a general election if she does get that far.

>> she certainly will. dana bash, thank you very much for your sterling work as well this evening. much appreciate it. cnn's john king is here to break down the votes tonight behind tonight's big victories. john. >> piers, the map says it all what happened in new jersey tonight. look at all that red in what has traditionally been a big blue state. a landslide for chris christie. he wins re-election as new jersey's governor already thinking about running for president from 2016. a very different story in the gubernatorial election in virginia. a lot of red for ken cucinnelli. but because of the blue in the washington, d.c. suburbs in northern virginia terry mcauliffe eeking out a narrow victory thanks to his is up sport in the suburbs. exit polls, again a gender gap in presidential politics. favored president obama last time. christie will make the case even against a woman democratic opponent he won the women's vote

a majority of the electorate, handily carried the men's vote. chris christie will make that his calling card as he looks to 2016. among african-americans, yes, his democratic opponent won. but look at this. remember barack obama won more than 9 in 10 african-american votes. chris christie getting 21% of that vote, dramatically up doubling that vote for four years ago. he'll make the case that's much better than john mccain and mitt romney. in latino voters, the republican candidate running even. even slightly ahead in the race for latino votes. with immigration reform in the forefront with with new mexico, nevada, there is no doubt that his performance after hurricane sandy helped him 85% of the voters today approved of how christie handled the aftermath of the storm. it was a huge factor in his big win tonight. virginia right now and the competing forces in terry mcauliffe's victory. why was ken cucinnelli the republican so close? in part piers in large part

because opposition to obama care. a huge issue in the fine days of the campaign because of all the glitches in the rollout. a majority of virginians opposed the president's health care plan voted for ken cucinnelli but it wasn't enough. even though enough to keep ken cucinnelli close, terry mcauliffe using in this campaign number one the gender gap. women by a slight margin outnumbered men. they voted big for the democratic candidate terry mcauliffe. a big part of terry mcauliffe's win in the suburbs, suburban women. the gender gap one big factor. another thing he did especially after the government shutdown, he said ken cucinnelli was the darling of the tea party. 42% of virginia voters opposed the tea party movement. look at what they did today. those voters giving a huge edge to mcauliffe. in a close race the tea party a huge factor here. in the end this was the essence of terry mcauliffe's campaign message even in a state that has been reliably red in the past, he said ken cucinnelli was too conservative. after the electorate agreed with terry mcauliffe in a close race

painting his opponent as an extremist on the social issues and tea party agenda enough to give terry mcall their narrow victory in the state of virginia. people will study the maps as we look forward to 2016. this one very closely because of virginia's key role as a presidential swing state. piers? >> thank you very much indeed, john king. when we come back new jersey's big man wins a very big victory and talks to cnn's jake tapper. the day we rescued riley, was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com

richard shoop, cuccinelli,.

ride. and he had some advice for his fellow republicans. >> the party's got to focus on winning again. sometimes i feel like our party cares more about winning the argument than winning elections. if you don't win elections you can't govern. if you don't govern you can't change the direction of the state like we've done in new jersey. so one i think we need to get ourself refocused on that. secondly, i think sometimes we forget that candidates matter. it's not just about a checklist of issue. it's also about how a person presents themselves as a candidate, how they articulate their view of things and how they react to situations. and people make judgements based on all those things. >> it's interesting you say that. i heard a criticism from a democrat about you. and actually more about the

media and the public, which is that if chris christie wins in their view this democrat's view it's a triumph of personality over policy. meaning people in this state tend to disagree with you on a lot of issues, but they're going re-elect you because they like your style. is that a fair criticism? >> no. it is why they're losing. because they think that's the way people make decisions. it's kind of what i was implying in the last answer. they think that people go down a checklist of issues and like a proand con. they draw a line down the middle of the sheet. okay if there's more checks for this person than that person that's the person i vote for. that's not the way people vote in my experience. i think that voting is much visceral. people say can i trust this person? do they lead? will they tell me the truth? they look at the issues, too. but that analysis from that democrat is just as if people are robot and check a list.

i say to people in town halls, if you agree with the candidate 100% of the time go home and look in the mirror. you're the only one you agree with 100%. >> do you think you're a tea party republican? >> i think there's elements of the tea party that are republicans at their best. limited government, in favor of individual liberty and freedom, tough on government spending, questioning taxes and whether you need to expand them or grow them. so i think the core of the tea party movement as i understand it i think is very consistent with good conservative republicanism. now what happens is when some folks use that movement, use that theory just to try to enhance themselves politically, sometimes that movement can then get perverted. and so listen, there's a lot of principles about the tea party they agree with and have governed in new jersey in a way that's consistent with a lot of that. >> a lot of tea partiers i've heard from think you're a rhino, republican in name only. >> listen, that's some folks who

will say if you ever say anything nice about a democrat, you're an rino. they can call me whatever they want. i don't really care. my view is let people judge me by my record. i'm a guy who's cut taxes $2.3 billion in the state. our budget fiscal 2014 spends less than john corzine's in fiscal 2008. we've reformed teacher tenure, reformed pension and benefits, to make people pay more so they don't lose their pension and benefits. if they did that in washington they'd have a parade for washington republicans. they can call me whatever they want to. most people will objectively look at my record, it's a solid conservative record. and for goodness sakes, almost everyone's been called an rino now. if you weren't in favor of the government shutdown you're an rino.

i don't pay any attention to that. >> even though he security the job of governor for four more years, many suspect chris christie's sights are set on a 2016 presidential bid. while he insists he's focused on his new term as a governor, he's addressed some questions that might nag a presidential hopeful such as his health. he recently had lap band surgery to control his weight. >> how do you feel? how is your health? >> i feel really good. we're a little bit more than halfway to my goal in the last eight months. so that's really good. and i sleep better. i mean, the biggest difference for me, i didn't feel badly at my previous weight. but i didn't realize how poorly i slept until how well i've been sleeping. >> woke up a lot? >> woke up a lot during the night. just didn't get a lot of continuous sleep. i'm sleeping a lot better. really bad news for my staff because i have more energy. which they didn't think was possible. >> halfway to your goal? >> a little more than halfway to my goal in eight months. >> looking good. >> i'm really happy about that.

>> yeah. it's a great feeling. it's hard work. but i feel like for the first time in 25 years i feel like i've got a pathway which is really nice. not to be as frustrated as i was before.

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i will never stop fighting for the city i love, the city we all love so much. and i will never forget that as mayor, i worked for you. >> the new mayor of new york city, bill deblasio. thank you, gentlemen, for staying up so late to break this all down. let me start with you, mark preston. give me an overview of how significant or relevant any of what happened tonight may be come say a general election in 2016. >> well, hugely on many levels. let's look at what happened down

in alabama. we have the republican establishment beating back a tea party candidate down there, in a race that could have gone the other way. we're looking at chris christie right now, who clearly is the front-runner, at least at this moment, piers, for the republican presidential nomination. will he stay there? unlikely. we'll see somebody else move into that slot. in virginia, right across the river here in washington, d.c., we seen a democrat take back a seat that's been held by a republican. so a lot of implications in 2014, and into 2016. >> two blows for the tea party. one obviously in virginia, but also in alabama, where a tea party candidate was up against a main stream gop candidate and lost. how big a blow is this double whammy, if it's a blow at all. what does it mean to senator ted cruz's campaign?

>> you have to take it from two different perspectives. the republican establishment, and certainly the business community that's become alienated from the tea party, will see both of these elections in virginia and alabama as a repudiation of the tea party. i can tell by watching the twitter feed that tea party members see it very differently. they think that ken cucinelli was way behind, but because he refocused on tea party principles, particularly attacking obama care, closed the gap and made this a much closer race than it was expected to be. and in alabama, the candidate who won, the establishment candidate, had enormous advantages, simply financially and endorsements. yet that was also a relatively close race against a tea party

candidate who really didn't have much or any establishment backing. so it all depends on how you interpret elections and people tend to see what they want to see in the returns. >> mark preston, for bill de blasio, apparently he's a red sox fan. how is that going to wash with "the new yorker"s? >> he wants to be part of red sox nation, he's been part of red sox nation. what's so refreshing is him talking am his love for the red sox, knowing it's not going to play well with the voters. that's a sense of authenticity you sew. every four years, when we see these republicans and democrats trekking up to new hampshire, all of a sudden they all become red sox fans because they think that's what they need to do. but the fact that he still wears

it on his sleeve gave him a little credit. >> frankly if i can survive as an enginishmen in new york, he'll be fine. thank you very much indeed. >> thank you. lots more to come.

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back with more election night coverage, 20 13. joining me is stephanie cutter, bill crystal, and cnn's chief political correspondent candy crowley. chris christie is the big story tonight. this is a clear marker, i could be the guy that could win us a general election. >> he is a big story. i might argue that cucinelli coming this close is amazing giving the polls. but to christie, this is the story he wanted. he wanted this headline. close to 60%, which is a massive win. he is going to do well -- or do better in those demographic groups that republicans have so

eluded republicans, latinos, african-american, women, women, women. so this is his presentation tomorrow morgue. he won't have to say a word. in some ways, to me, chris christie is to new jersey what bill clinton was to arkansas. he was a moderate democrat in a red state. and chris christie is a -- calls him a conservative, whatever you want to call him, he's a republican in a blue state, proving that you can win there. >> bill, let me turn to you. is it a big defeat for the tea party, what's happened in virginia, even though it's so close, or is the reality, if you hadn't had this independent candidate getting over 70% of the vote, they would have won?

>> ken cucinelli ran better in virginia than mitt romney. when the government shutdown ended three weeks ago, cucinelli was down eight, ten points in the poll. and he was outspent massively. so for me the two big takeaways is chris christie is an impressive governor and politician, and will be a force to be reckoned with. and obama care is toxic. cucinelli closed on obama care. terry mccullough said he would expand obama care more, included virginia in the medicaid program. cucinelli said i'll do everything to fight obama care. that's what enabled cucinelli to make this as close as he did. >> stephanie cutter, is that your take on it? >> i read it as a rejection of

the republican party. if you look at what's happening in new jersey, chris christie ran not as a partisan republican, but really as a moderate. and the thing that bolstered his numbers is the hurricane, hurricane sandy, where he put politics aside and got criticized by the republican party. look at the exits in new jersey. even though chris christie, there is an overwhelming win there for him, they're rejecting the republican party. 58% disapprove of the republican party. in virginia, we see what's happening in the race. the votes are still out in fairfax. so we don't know what the margin will be. cucinelli is losing among women, because he's seen as too extreme on abortion, on contraception. even on economic issues. according to some exit polls, 83% of virginia voters are opposing the tea party. that means something. that means that the must be reboot that happened a year ago, which we haven't seen yet, has. appeared and they need to start

thinking about how they're going to run in the future. >> when we come back, the political scandal to end all scandals. a politician caught smoking crack cocaine. >> yes, i have smoked crack cocai cocaine. but am i an addict? no.

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yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. >> when, sir? >> but do i? am i an addict? no. have i tried it? probably in one of my drunken stupors about a year ago. >> mr. smoking crack cocaine, that tends to be a big story. talking about toronto mayor rob ford's scandal. robin doolittle and natalie johnson join me. robin, you've been running lots of stories on this. were you each remotely surprised that he finally broke down and confessed today? >> yeah, i was completely surprised. i happened to be standing in

that press conference. and he just suddenly stopped and turned to the media, which in and of itself is unusual. he doesn't talk to reporters very often. he said, ask me the question you asked he last may. then someone said, do you smoke crack? he said yes, i smoked crack cocaine. he's dug in his heels the last six months. it was a remarkable moment. >> natalie johnson, what has been the reaction? his approval ratings have actually gone up sense this has come out. is that true, and can he sustain that? >> that's right. it was last week when the police chief said he had in his possession this video showing the mayor smoking from a crack pipe. his approval rating climbed about five points after that. we don't have a poll to reflect the thoughts on today's admission, but certainly, a lot of surprise from counselors.

many of the allies who stood by him, you know, up until last week, were calling for him to take at least a temporary leave of absence following his admission. >> robin, let's play a clip from the mayor talking about his job and sew what he had to say. >> i was elected to do a job, and that's exactly what i'm going to continue doing. >> can he continue, robin, to do this? you think the pressure will get overwhelming? >> i think at this point it would be unusual if he did step aside. there's no impeachment legislation at city council. he showed up today in campaign mode. he wore cowboy boots and a football tie. he was invoking very much a tea party-esque, republican style of politics. as far as he's concerned, the election for 2014 has started.

>> what has been the reaction on twitter today? i tweeted myself i felt sorry for him. i was watching it go into meltdown. he's not corrupt, he's just been daft. he got drunk and did something stupid. what has been the reaction from the public in toronto? on twitter, there's a lot of jovial responses, with some saying he's let down the city and the country. >> oh, absolutely. the watch twitter at this point is a fascinating social experiment to see the commentary coming in. one tweet said he felt as though 1,000 pounds had been from his shoulder. someone tweeted, yeah, a thousand pounds off your shoulders and on to us as a city. he's making headlines across the world. >> robin, is it necessarily a

terrible thing or does it make him seem like a character who has now come clean. many celebrities come clean about this kind of thing, do rehab and bounce back more successful than ever. any reason just because he's a politician he couldn't follow that path? >> you really have to remember for the last six months, the mayor has been on a rampage. he's been demonizing the media. he's used very divisive language that's really fractured the city since he's been mayor. his friends and associates have been arrested on various charges. they've been trying to retain this video. there's a shooting that is somehow caught in this. there's a massive police investigation. his brother called for the chief

of police to resign earlier this morning or lying or being biased. this isn't someone saying i got caught doing something wrong, this is someone lying about it and attacking everyone for six months. so that's why the city is reacting the way it is. >> any way, ladies, thank you very much indeed. going to go now to a big supporter of the mayor until today. he joins me on the phone. welcome, counselor. why have you done a u turn on the mayor? >> well, because he's let down his supporters, and i'm one of them. i think he needs to take a leave of absence. it's clear that he was not truthful to the city of toronto. he didn't -- he wasn't full and

forthcoming, and the circumstances of the mayor of toronto being under police investigation, the police flying overhead and taking pictures of him hanging out with criminals and individuals involved in the drug trade, this all is a very big problem for the city of toronto. >> clearly it's a personal failing and he admitted to that today. why should that preclude him from seeking help and continuing in his job? >> well, part of the leave of absence would be for him to seek the counseling and help that we all think that he needs. quite frankly, many of us at the city feel that this is not the end of it. there's just been one tranche of information released by the police today. there was an announcement there were wiretaps that were

authorized and that information has been locked down by the courts. that information is going to be coming forward, and there will be potentially more damaging information related to his circumstances and we have business to conduct at the city, and this all will be a very -- it will make it more difficult for us to move forward and do the things we need to do. >> if it's as damaging as you say, how come his approval ratings appear to be going up? >> he's a remarkable individual, and a lot of people have put their faith in him. the question is, is -- when will the public feel that he's basically taking advantage of them and that he has abused that trust that they've given him? >> so you're not going to perform another u-turn, for you this is it, he has to stand down and that's it? >> i think if he were to take a

time-out, a leave of absence and assess the situation, let the information come out and consider what his next step is, how he can best serve the city, that would be, i think, the most reasonable step for him to take to heal himself and try and deal with some of his problems. >> okay. thank you very much for joining me. >> a pleasure. >> we'll be right back.

is nuclear energy good for the planet? a passionate debate between two men who couldn't disagree more. that's it for us. ♪ landslide victory. the new jersey and new york. plus a nail biting finish in a major swing state. what last night's election results mean for you. and president obama's approval rating is nearing an all-time low. is it obama care or the spying scandal? what's behind the 52-week plunge? new jersey's newest mall will reopen its doors after the gunman opened fire monday night. new details on the note that authorities say the gunman left behind. >> good